Before us appears the first serious hydroelectric power station in the history of Siberia. It is the least powerful (662.4 MW) in the most mighty hydropower complex in Russia – the Angarsk HPP cascade (Irkutskaya, Bratskaya, Ust-Ilimskaya, Boguchanskaya), whose total capacity is almost 12 thousand MW with an average annual output of 66 billion kWh (6% of the total consumption in the country). After the completion of the filling of the Irkutsk reservoir in 1959, the deepest (1642 m) and largest in terms of water volume (23,616 km3) reservoir in the world was formed. Perhaps that is why Irkutsk residents pay the least in Russia for 1 kW of energy (1.3 rubles for city dwellers and 0.91 for villagers).
Irkutsk Hydroelectric Dam
As a result of blocking the natural channel of the Angara River, the level of Baikal rose by 1.46 m, swallowing up all the islands between Irkutsk and the lake, as well as part of the Trans-Siberian Railway, for which a backup line had been built by that time. More than 200 settlements with 17 thousand people were in the flood zone.
On the right, at the en-trance to the dam, one of the three monuments to V.I. Lenin in Irkutsk, installed here in 1959 by the Moscow sculptor P.P. Yatsyno (author of the monument to the leader of the world proletariat at the park of Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy in Moscow). We will cross a dam along a 2.7 km long road, which is still unique for our country, because for the first time in world practice the construction was carried out from gravel and sand (almost 12 million m3), and the power plant building was combined with the body of the dam. From here, the main part of the water intake for the needs of the city is made.
Monument to V.I. Lenin at the hydroelectric power station, 1960s
At the end of the dam, the oldest metal icebreaker in the world – «Angara», froze on a concrete bed (Marshala Zhukova Prosp., 36A/1). It appeared on this site as a museum in the perpetual parking in 1990. This ship made its first voyage back in 1900 and since then has carried passengers of the Trans-Siberian Railway, participated in combat battles during the Civil War in Russia, ran aground three times, five times sank. Despite this, the engines of English assembly are still in excellent condition, and the ship is able to return to navigation, which was interrupted in 1963 only for moral reasons.
Icebreaker Angara, early 20th century
Solnechniy Microdistrict
Opposite the ship, across the road, you can see one of the youngest and most famous schools in Irkutsk – the experimental education center No. 47 (Marshala Zhukova Prospekt, 36), which has been operating since 1991. Nearby is the not less famous gymnasium No. 25 of Irkutsk city, built in 1982. In 2001, it was awarded the title «School of the Century» (Marshala Zhukova Prospekt, 2). Among its graduates, the composer D.G. Grigorutse, winner of the World Cup in sports aerobics E.N. Samozvanova, Doctor of Medical Sciences P.V. Seliverstov.
«School of the Century», gymnasium No. 25
From here we begin our acquaintance with one of the youngest microdistricts of the city of Irkutsk – Solnechny. Let’s proceed to the shore of the Chertugeevsky Bay of the Angara River, where today the main pier of Irkutsk is located called «Rocketa» (Marshala Zhukova Prospekt, 98Г), which arose on this site in 1975 right on the outaskirt of the old village Malaya Razvodnaya flooded by the waters of the reservoir. Until 2017, from here it was possible to get to the northern tip of Lake Baikal in 12 hours, covering a distance of almost 600 km, using the «Kometa» hydrofoil motor ship. Here is also a yacht club of the European level – «Pearl of Baikal».
Pier «Rocketa», 1980
Through an ingenious road junction, we get to Marshal Zhukov Prospekt, where in 2005 to the four times Hero of the Soviet Union was built a monument by the most famous sculptor of Republic of Buryatia, A.M. Mironov. In 2002, when laying the foundation, a shell of a 76-mm whizbang was laid with an appeal to descendants, which is planned to be opened by the 100th anniversary of the Great Victory in 2045.
Monument to G.K. Zhukov
Directly from the monument begins the alley of military glory of Irkutsk with six monoliths, on which the contribution of the region to the defeat of fascism is described. At the end of the alley is the creation of V.A. Pavlov – a dormitory with a dental clinic No. 1 (Marshal Zhukov Prospekt, 70Б), built in 1983. The author himself gave more than 20 years to the capital of Eastern Siberia and is still among the 50 best architects of the 20th century according to the World Triennial of the International Union of Architects. On the other side of the avenue is another interesting project by V.A. Pavlov – «house-ship» (Marshal Zhukov Prospekt, 1), gallery type with an elevator shaft took outside the building, constructed in 1983.
«House-ship», 1980s
The history of the avenue itself is interesting, since until 1997 this street was called Karl-Marx-Stadt, after the Soviet name of the third largest city in the GDR – Chemnitz, which maintained twinning relations with Irkutsk from 1967 to 1999. It was German students who built this wide highway in 1974. In memory of twinning relations, the house of culture «Druzhba» (from the Russian druzhba – «friendship») appeared here.
Interestingly, on the site of the modern monument to G.K. Zhukov planned to install a copy of the bust of Karl Marx by the famous sculptor L.E. Kerbel surrounded by two thousand frost-resistant roses. From the side of the government of the Irkutsk region, only the installation of a pedestal and flower beds was required, however, the Soviet side did not fulfill its promise, unlike the German part, which sent the monument on time in 1987. The monument was never installed, and relations between the cities have since collapsed.
Monument to K. Marx in Chemnitz, 1971
Under the viaduct we will go to the left along the street named after the world’s first Baikal scientist B.T. Dybovsky, who often visited Irkutsk in the period from 1868 to 1876. It will lead us to the building of the Solnechny water sports complex (Baikalskaya Str., 253/1), built here in 2015. Its area allows holding water sports competitions in accordance with Olympic standards.
Water-sports complex «Solnechniy»
Next to it since 1996 is the main exhibition site of Irkutsk – «Sibexpocenter», as well as the ten-story building of the Baikal Business Center, designed by architect B.I. Kulikov and for a long time remained the best and highest business center of the city (Baikalskaya Str., 279).
Baikal Business Center
In this part, the Solnechny microdistrict is connected along Shiryamova Street with the territory of the Irkutsk International Airport, which was moved here in 1933 from the village of Bokovo (Shiryamova Street, 13). It consistently wins the title of «Best Airport of the Year in the CIS countries» (for the last time in 2017), despite the fact that it remains on the list of the most dangerous air harbors in Russia. During the years of its